While we typically focus on technology better found in living rooms, this week's Surf Report takes a peek at newfangled kitchen gadgets ready to act as your sous chef.

Bring (and protect) the iPad in the kitchen

With countless recipe apps and how-to videos, the iPad has become an indispensable cooking tool for the executive chefs in some households. Recognizing this, Chef Sleeve has created a number of accessories to fully — and safely — integrate the tablet into the kitchen.

Its line of disposable sleeves ($15.99-$19.99 for a pack of 25) will protect iPads, iPhones or Kindles from accidental splashes while keeping touch gestures intact. When it's all sullied up after messy meal prep, just toss it in the recycling bin.

Chef Sleeve's latest addition is its dishwasher-safe iPad stand ($34.99). Made of eco-friendly certified wood fibers compressed with food-safe resin, the stand, with two viewing angles (45 degrees and 20 degrees), is heat resistant up to 350 degrees. This isn't Chef Sleeve's first iPad stand though. Its cutting board ($69.99) also includes an indentation to hold an iPad (preferably donned in its protective raincoat) in place while you show off your knife work. Made of the same green materials, this 13.5-by-18-by-0.5 inch board features a "juice groove" along the edge to catch wayward fluids — because who wants salmonella on their countertops?

Want to learn the secret to preparing amazing home cooked meals in half an hour? It's called a pressure cooker.

Though pressure cookers have been around for centuries, Fissler improves on existing models by taking the guesswork out of using such a device. Made in Germany, its Vitaquick line (starting $239.95) features thick, wide bottoms to evenly and efficiently cook on top of large burners.

Fissler succeeds in creating a pressure cooker that can easily prepare elaborate meals — think risotto or pulled pork — and is also straightforward to use. What most differentiates Vitaquick from its competitors is the large easy-to-read indicator rod with two clear markers signifying gentle or speed cooking. In contrast, the pressure cooker your mom has more than likely features an unwieldy indicator that is hidden in a hard-to-read spot or confusing to interpret. Furthermore, with an auto-locking handle and other safety features built in, this is near foolproof to use.

pluck is a suction device that separates the yolk from the egg.(Photo: Alice Truong for USA TODAY)

Plucky tool for separating eggs

One of the more bizarre gadgets I've seen on the market is Pluck from Quirky, a startup that develops top-voted product ideas submitted by its community of inventors.

Essentially, it's a suction device that separates — or plucks, if you will — the yolk from the egg. Personally, I find the concept (the act, as well) a little gross, but I have to admit it's extremely effective. But you know what else is effective? Two halves of an egg shell, which you conveniently happen to have.

Minibru is built for the coffee minimalist.(Photo: Alice Truong for USA TODAY)

Brew a single cup of coffee

Sometimes all you want is a single cup of coffee. So instead of taking out that big coffee pot, pull out the minibru, perfect for one cup of French press coffee.

Sold through ThinkGeek, a treasure trove of nerdy, offbeat gadgets, minibru ($24.99) is built for the coffee minimalist. The concept is smart: Use the same piece of equipment for brewing and drinking. After filling the 12-ounce glass mug with coarse ground coffee to the bottom line, add water to the top line. Two to three minutes of steeping later, you insert the plunger — in this case, a glass with a mesh filter on the bottom — and it's ready to drink.

Rather strange is that the grounds remain sitting at the bottom of the glass, but they'll stay in place — that is, unless you flip the cup over in an attempt to get the last sip. If that's the case, maybe you should reconsider the coffee pot.

Unless you have Julia Child's sense of timing, you're going to need some help.

The f/60 Lens Kitchen Timer ($14) sold by Photojojo is one photographers will adore. Even though this timer is disguised as a lens, it sounds a classic bell ring when the roast is done. Though I would prefer this took after a wide angle or telephoto lens, I can see why it was modeled after a kit lens, basic glass that's bundled with camera bodies. A kit makes sense because of the similar range. The last markings are at 55 — millimeters on the actual lens, minutes on the timer. However, I have one suggestion for the designers: Since kit lenses are typically in the 18-55mm range, why not add a few more tick marks after 15 minutes? It'd complete the package.

A 20-ounce double-wall stainless-steel bottle infuses a fruit essence into a spirit of your choice.(Photo: Alice Truong for USA TODAY)

Adding zing to drinks

Lackluster drinks? Zing Anything wants to help by infusing some pizzazz into your bartending abilities.

Vodka Zinger ($25.95), a 20-ounce double-wall stainless-steel bottle, integrates a grinder on the bottom that extracts fruit essence and infuses it into a spirit of your choice. (Water is also an option; the company has a model called the Aqua Zinger, which is virtually the same hardware minus the difference in branding and color.)

Be inspired by what you see on the shelves of liquor stores — lemon, vanilla or chili vodka — or experiment by combining some of your favorite flavors. Once the ingredients are ground up, a mesh screen keeps the remains separate from the liquor. A word of warning: There will be some wasted booze here since the pulp absorbs some of the liquid.